Highland Boxing Academy smash through season’s best champions tally after four more winners crowned at first ever King of the North Box Cup in Aberdeen
Highland Boxing Academy have smashed through their record tally of champions in a single season after winning four more gold medals at last weekend’s King of the North Box Cup in Aberdeen.
The Inverness club’s previous season’s best was 18 champions, a number which they had already reached going into the competition in the Granite City.
However, all four of their athletes won by stoppage to raise the ceiling even higher – a considerable achievement given that it took the club four years to claim their first 25 champions.
Hosted at Bucksburn Academy, Isabella Fioretti was the first HBA athlete to have her hand raised.
She stopped Tegan Dynes (Glasgow Boxing Academy) in the second round to claim both the title, and the tag of the competition’s best female youth boxer at the tournament.
Robert Stewart claimed the male equivalent after producing back-to-back stoppages, first against Ahmed Alakel (Clovenstone) in the semi final and then Kian Cusick (Beath) in the final.
In the junior division, Kian Stewart won his title with a swift first round stoppage over Luke MacDonald (Gears).
Finally, it was up to Brodie Zineldin to complete the set in his youth final, ending his bout against Granite City’s Kian Tennant in the third round with a powerful body shot.
Highland Boxing Academy head coach Liam Foy says it was a perfect weekend for the club, and one that ranks right up there with the best in their history due to the manner of their victories.
“For the club, this weekend will be remembered as a landmark achievement,” he said.
“To win four golds – all by stoppage – at an international event, and to have two boxers named as the tournament’s best in their respective age groups, is something rarely seen.
“We’ve had bigger medal hauls, but it was a flawless weekend in pretty much every way. For all of them to win their fights by stoppage, and for two to be named the best boxers in their age group, it was pretty special.
“We’ve had cracking results in the past, and a few stoppages, but I’ve never had a squad who have won in the fashion we did at the weekend, so it was absolutely phenomenal.”
On the progress made by the club in recent years to continually raise their annual title tally, Foy continued: “We still have a lot more boxing to do. There are a couple more Box Cups in the calendar, and the schools’ and kids’ Northern Districts is coming up.
“I’m confident for those competitions, so the record from last season is going to get absolutely smashed.
“We’ve got a good group of open class boxers now. During the pandemic, we lost a lot of our seasoned boxers, and we were starting from the ground to build back up.
“We’ve been back there for the last year or so, consistently proving ourselves at these tournaments and raking in the medals.
“The numbers that we’ve got going to these upcoming tournaments, I’m sure we will be coming back with more medals, so it’s all testament to how the club has continued to grow.”
